The Last Letter
by kygirlxx
Summary: In between the scenes we saw on the summer finale when Sharon is instructed to report to Taylor's office and whenever Rusty arrives.


Standing up from her desk, Sharon watched Emma disappear behind the wall and then looked at Andy with a defeated face- she didn't know what they wanted to talk about, but she could only imagine it was connected to the case they had just worked. Grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair, she put it on as she passed the Lieutenant touching his arm along the way and entered the hallway. She could see Taylor and the brunette rounding the corner so she quickly walked, her heels clicking against the tile as she attempted to catch up. Sharon knew something was wrong, just by the looking at the expressions on their faces and she didn't like not being in the loop.

"What's going on?" She asked as she untucked her hair from underneath her jacket and closed the glass door behind her.

"Sharon, I'd sit down if I were you." Russell said quietly as he looked down at the stack of opened letters, avoiding eye contact with the woman for a moment.

Emma cleared her throat and took in a deep breath as she leaned against the wall, her arms folded over her chest, "Yesterday, these letters were discovered in one of the filing cabinets." Russell handed over the stack to the brunette and looked at her with a sadness in his eyes before sitting down in his chair, hand covering mouth as his head shook.

"What?" She asked, her brows furrowed in confusion as she took the stack and adjusted her glasses to read only to feel her heart stop and drop all the way to the bottom of her stomach. "No... oh, no." She whispered as a hand covered her mouth. She couldn't process it completely in her mind, Rusty had still received nearly a dozen threatening letters from the anonymous person and he had not told her. This was someone whom she cared deeply for, took into her own home and practically began raising him, this boy was like her child- was in all but the biological sense. Tears formed into her eyes and she looked up going back and forth between the two other people in the room.

"Why- what is going to happen? What do we do?" She asked feeling very small and helpless at the moment, looking to her colleagues for guidance and support.

Emma tucked her hair behind her ears and looked at the brunette. "We can discuss that when Rusty gets here. We sent patrol to go pick him up from school a few minutes ago."

Sharon's tear filled eyes were wide as she looked at the stack of notebook paper, nodding her head as if she was not completely there. Standing up slowly, she held the notes to her chest as she tilted her head to the side and swallowed before speaking. "Do- um, I am going to go inform the others." She said nodding and not waiting for an answer before exiting the room. Moving down the hallway, she felt her knees go weak, like she was going to fall over any second and not be able to get back up, like a train had just hit her and she was about to crumble into many pieces. Placing her hand against the wall, she put pressure on it as she continued to move to the main area of the squad room to notify everyone. Blinking her eyes a few times to suppress the tears, she took in a sharp breath and collected herself, she was not going to break down in front of the people she worked with, not twice in under twenty four hours.

Opening the door, she walked inside to see all of the team at their desk, doing everything they were assigned and stopped. These people had helped her out with Rusty ever since taking him into her custody and she was forever grateful to each and every single one of them. Buzz, for constantly watching out over the boy and helping him with his work. Lieutenant Flynn for always checking up on the boy to see if he was alright. Lieutenant Provenza for being the father figure in his life that Rusty never had. Sykes, Sanchez, and Tao for always helping him when he needed it or taking him places he needed to go. Moving over slowly to the blank white board, she leaned against it and cleared her throat, causing everyone to turn around and look at her. . "I have something you all should know." She spoke, hearing her own voice crack while staring at the ground before moving her tear filled eyes up to meet everyone else's.

"It seems that Rusty decided to withhold these threatening letters he was receiving." Holding her hand up she showed the stack of papers and bit her lower lip. "So, when you see him in a few minutes, please instruct him to come to Chief Taylor's office immediately. Thank you..." She said as she quickly turned on her heel and began to silently cry, moving back down the secluded hallway. Once out of vision of her colleagues, Sharon pressed her body against the wall where it curved in and covered her mouth as she let the tears run down her face. How could she not have known? How could she not have seen the signs? Had she been neglecting Rusty due to the increase in caseload? The last thing she wanted was the boy to be scared. She needed him to be and feel safe at all times, that's why she insisted on him not going out alone and having escorts. Sharon was not angry with the boy, she could never be angry with him about something like this. It was normal for someone in his situation to be frightened, however she wished he would have come forward sooner so they could try their best to figure out where the letters were coming from, with all of the time they had gone without knowing they could have possibly found evidence that would lead them to the sender.

And as she stood trying her best to control the sobbing, she realized that this could be the end of her journey with this boy she had watched grow up so much over the time he had spent with her. He could possibly be no longer sleeping in the guest bedroom she had remodeled to suit all of his needs, he would no longer be in possession of the things that she had bought him so he could stay up to date with all the modern technology. He wouldn't be attending the school he had grown to like nor be apart of the chess team that she had watched many matches for. They would be over, just like that. She felt like the parents she had to notify in her job, that they had lost a child or explaining what on earth their child did to get them into trouble and she felt scared. Rusty was made her lonely days so much better, she looked forward to coming home to him and being able to listen to his insights of the cruel world they lived in. She had made it a routine to always check on him no matter how late the both of them went to sleep. Looking at the watch dangling on her wrist, she knew that her boy would be here any minute to only receive probably a horrible punishment that would cause heartbreak and suffering- unfortunately it was out of Sharon's hands.

Calming herself, she gently wiped under her eyes with a shaky hand to fix the smeared makeup only to find more tears slowly trickling down and let her head hang, just staring at the letters that were addressed to him. Feeling sick to her stomach that someone was out to get this wonderful, smart, funny young boy who had already been through so much. She was angry at the person who had this hold over him, that made him terrified to show the letters, she knew the consequences of telling - which probably would have resulted in witness protection- but still, she wished Rusty would have said something even if it meant leaving her. That way she would know he would be safe. Thinking back to all of the times she ignored having a conversation with him after a rough case, she started to go back to every single time she had either been too busy, too worried about something else, or just too tired. Maybe she could have noticed something was wrong. Maybe she could have found out the truth. The cold ugly truth.

Hearing the door close, she didn't register anything until she saw Rusty appear down the hallway and she stood straight to her feet, holding up the letters to show him that she knew. She could tell in the look of his eyes exactly what he was feeling and thinking and all she wanted to do was hold him tight in her arms and reassure him everything would be alright. However, Sharon also knew she would have a breakdown if she did that, so she said the six words she thought would keep both of them strong for the time being.


End file.
